River James and Saturday by Lela Merrell-Savage

Author:Lela Merrell-Savage [Lela Merrell-Savage]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2017-09-21T00:00:00+00:00

THE INVESTIGATION

The next morning Jacob Yount left his farm and headed to Warsaw, the county seat, to talk to the Sheriff.

Before he left, he called his wife, Bertie, and Saturday to his side.

“While I am gone, you are to be very careful about leaving the safety of our farm. These happenings that Beauty witnessed bode evil for all of us. If The Brethren are involved in what has been brought to my attention by an acquaintance, Samuel Nelson, who recently passed through here from Tennessee, I am worried. The events he told me about are highly suspect. Please be careful, Bertie. Saturday, you keep an eye on your mother and the farm while I am gone. Don't go anywhere without carrying a weapon with you, including your knife. I know that you are quite capable of handling yourself, but just be aware of your surroundings.”

Looking at this slender girl standing so quietly, listening intently to him, made Jacob pause for a minute as he contemplated leaving the two women by themselves. Surely the Brethren’s evil schemes had not gotten to the boiling point yet, he thought, as he rode off and turned his horse's head toward town. He glanced back to see Saturday looking after him. Little did he know that it would be years before he saw her face again.

*****

When he reached the county seat, he immediately confronted Sheriff Means with his suspicions. The stalwart sheriff listened to Jacob with a troubled face. He had been receiving information on the doings of this group for the last several months, but nothing in the reports made him think there was anything to worry about. Now he had before him a man with a solid reputation telling him of his suspicions. The sheriff had visited the courthouse, across the street from his office, several times in the past months, monitoring the sale and purchasing of parcels of land. Seemingly random in the beginning, the Brethren’s acquisition of land seemed to be forming a pattern.

After Jacob finished speaking, the Sheriff paused, then cranked a long distant call to his superiors in the state capital in Jefferson City. They immediately wanted to interview Mr. Yount, as it was beginning to seem that land fraud or underhanded dealings were being committed against local landowners. A loosely woven, but large area was being devoured by these men. It was hard to prove any wrong-doing, and they needed the help of someone local that might have a handle on what was going on.

As Sheriff Means hooked the receiver back on the wall by the phone, he looked at Jacob.

“Could you leave right now by train with me to meet with the State Attorney General, Homer Ransom? Your information may be the piece of this puzzle that can bring it all together.”

Startled, Jacob said, “I must let my family know that I will not be coming home for a couple of days. I'll get in touch with one of my neighbors that I know is in town and have him go by and tell them of my whereabouts.

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